Are you pregnant again after having preeclampsia once already in a previous pregnancy? Post your thoughts/concerns here - there are others who share your feelings. This is also the home of our Bedrest Buddies Support group.

I have a 9 month old, Emma Margaret and just got pregnant on our first try for #2! Just call me fertile mertyl! lol

With my first pregnancy I was diagnosed with PIH at about 28/29 wks (though a couple weeks earlier is when my first BP spikes and symptoms started, but my dr was out of town and I saw another one who did the lay you down, send you home thing). I was sent for an ultrasound at the hospital a few days after diagnosis and was then diagnosed with Oligohydramnios as well (low amniotic fluid) and told to prepare to have dd and to fly out to a bigger hospital. Well, the bedrest worked and I was laying on my side and eating dh's cooking (fast food) for about 8 wks untill things started to slowly slide downhill again and I delivered my daughter at 37 wks weighing a whopping 7lbs 7 oz and measuring 20 1/2 inches long. My bp went back down to normal with the help of some meds within a month or two. Upon asking my doctor whether I'd get it again or not, the answer was, "there's a fair chance." Whatever that means! My mother is of the opinion that I won't since it runs in our family in FIRST pregnancies.

So, I'm still here wondering and waiting and barely pg with our second. I have my first apt and ultrasound on the 23rd to get exact dates (that's when I'll update my signature, btw), but I'm due in early August...the 3rd to the 11th or so.

I was diagnosed with hypertension at my first OB visit at approximately 10 weeks. My BP was 150/100! The doctor said that I had chronic hypertension since the bp problem occured before 20 weeks and prescribed bp meds (aldomet). I remained on the aldomet for the entire pregnancy with the dose being increased over time. My bp started to skyrocket around 28 weeks and I was put on complete bedrest. At 31 weeks, I started to develop pre-eclampsia. It progressed very rapidly and my son was delivered at 32.5 weeks. He weighed 4 lbs, 4 ounces at birth and dropped to a low weight of 3 lbs, 11 ounces. He spent one month in the NICU with the usual preemie problems: respiratory distress syndrome, inability to control body temperature, hyperbilirubinemia, and feeding issues. Thankfully, he is a very HEALTHY boy today and is now 13 1/2 months. He is huge (95th percentile on the growth chart for height) which just cracks me up because he was such a little peanut at birth.

I consulted with a perinatologist before conceiving #2 (also on the first attempt..ha, ha). He reviewed my medical records and felt I was "medically mismanaged" in my first pregnancy. He felt that my first OB did not keep a tight enough control over my BP and tolerated too high of numbers. Also, during the last week of pregnancy my BP was as high as 190/130 but she did not admit me to the hospital. I was at home and she was changing my med dosages over the phone!! I am a Registered Nurse and thought this was wacky but was soooooooo sick and out of it, did not advocate for myself well.

Needless to say, I am going to a peri this time around :-). He was much more positive about me having a better pregnancy, especially since my BP is normal now without meds. Weight loss, decreasing stress in my life helped. I am nervous about this pregnancy. My twin brother and his wife just lost twin boys at 23 weeks due to pre-term labor on the day after Thanksgiving. So, the reality of what can go wrong in pregnancy is very much on my mind :-(. I'm not telling my family for a while since they don't need to be worrying about me too. Anyway, thanks for reading this novel..ha, ha.

I developed a quick sudden onset of Pre-E then soon after Class 1 HELLP Syndrome at 27w with our first pregnancy, January 2003. Our late DS, Jack, was born at 27w 5d via c-section. I had Poly-hydraminios which is very contradictory to common low amniotic fluid. Our DS was born with a rare form of Beckwith Wiedemann Syndrome. A disease that effects the internal organs. He required a heart operation to close a open ductess in his heart however the Dr's did not feel he would survive the operation. We chose to remove in from supports and he passed away the same day.

Fast Forward....

Became pregnant first month trying, EDD Jan 6/04. We returned to the Peri that treated our pregnancy with Jack and have been closely monitored by him. Have been on restriction due to an increase in BP from 25w and complete bedrest due to PIH since 31w. Still going strong! We are definately counting our blessings everyday!

10 years ago and only 18, I was diagnosed at 26 weeks with PE. I was sent to a perinatologist. From then on I was in and out of the hospital. At 35 weeks they did an amnio and induced labor. I delivered a healthy baby boy 4lb 15oz. I was on Mag before and after delivery.

In 97 I was pregnant with my daughter, like clockwork, I started the PIH at 26 weeks. I was able to hold out for week 38 through bed rest and constant monitoring. I had a home health care nurse come to my house every other day. Plus, I had a machine that hooked into my phone line to monitor BP, fetal kicks, and protein. If anything looked out of the ordinary, my OB would call for me to come in. I never developed more than a trace protein. Thank heavens. I delivered a healthy girl weighing in at 7lb 15oz.

In 02 I scaved through this pregnancy with little to NO sypmtoms of PE. My blood pressure stayed in control pretty much the whole time. Of course this time I limited my stress and stopped working with the pregnancy. I was remarried and a different father too, so I thought this was maybe working in my favor. About a week before I BEGGED to be induced I developed some swelling. I was miserable. I was HUGE, my back hurt (birth defect)! We induced labor. My swelling kept on getting worse. I called my OB and called all the while they told me this was normal and sometimes it took weeks to go down. On the Friday following his birth (One week later.) I called the office with a severe headache that would not go away. He called me in some Tylenol 3. This did not help. On Saturday night I finially could not take this headache any longer. I was seeing spots and my vision was blurry. My husband took me to the ER. They took my BP at the triage and it was 222/169. I was immediately rushed back. Started on Mag. I was given moraphine and pumped full of BP meds. Nothing helped for 6 hours. I wanted to just die, my headache was that bad. Plus watching how incredibly high my BP was I knew that I was serious. They had to turn the monitor because I was so scared. I was stabelized and transfered to a larger hospital where my OB could watch me. He came in that next morning and apologized! He told me that the symptoms I had over the phone were normal. He had heard of post partum PE, but never suspected that I had developed it. I stayed away from my newborn son and had to allow my mother in law (YUCK, YUCK) the privelage of taking over his care during this time. I kept him with me throughout the days and just slept with him on my chest while laying in the hospital. I could not stand to be away from him when visiting hours were over! I was taken off blood pressure meds at my six week check up.

Here we are again. #4. At my first prenatal appt my BP was 155/95. That was 8 weeks. I have been on BP meds every since then. I have been taken off the meds since I was in the hospital with whatever it was i had just this last weekend. My BP's are low now. Crossing my fingers they stay that way for awhile. I feel better then ever not being on that crap! I have more energy and not as irritable! DH would agree. LOL I will keep yo posted on the rest as it comes.

Hello ladies!! I am a 29 year old married woman with two living children. I am a registered nurse but I am staying home right now being a mom! I have chronic hypertension that runs on the moderate side. I do not take medication.
When I was 20 I became pregnant with a man I was in a relationship with. My son was born two weeks early after my water broke. My blood pressures had been elevated - that is what they told me - at the end of my pregnancy. I have no real idea what they were running, the Dr. never clued me in. I do know that my son was small - 5 pounds 14 ounces. But he was fine and just turned 8 years old.
My second pregnancy was with my husband. At 9 weeks we had an ultrasound that revealed an abnormality. We went for further testing and found out that our baby had a large cystic hygroma and fetal hydrops related to Turners Syndrome. This is a chromosomal abnormality that occurs at conception. It can happen to anyone and rarely happens twice because it is not genetic. Our sweet, precious daughter died in utero at 16 weeks due to this. My blood pressures were running higher than normal during this time as well. I was induced and delivered her in 2001.
During my third pregnancy my blood pressure was horrible. I was running very high from early on. I was being checked for protein in my urine, 24 hour urines every week, weekly BBPs, weekly blood work for function levels, and two non stress tests a week! I was on strict bed rest from 32 weeks on. We thought he would have to be delivered at 31 weeks because they couldn't control my bps, but they did. I was taking Labetalol throughout this time. My son was born two weeks early because they decided to induce me and get him out. He weighed 5 pounds 14.6 ounces. I had to be on Magnesiusm Sulfate for 24 hours... the worst drug ever!(I'm sure many can appreciate that comment). But he made it and is here safe and sound. He is now almost a year old.
I just found out I am pregnant again! Hooray! I am nervous, but I feel so blessed. I have reduced my stress and I have been eating well. I am taking prenatals and omega 3 vitamins. My bps have been average if not a little better for me. I take my pressure only once a day right now. I have been a bit queezy upon waking in the morning, but overall my appetite has increased A LOT lately! I have my first appointment on the 15th of this month. I hope to have an early u/s. I am excited that there are others here that will go through this with me. God is good! Oh and I will be due the first week of August.

I'm 27 years old and currently pregnant with my second child. My first pregnancy was only 2 years ago and I have a beautiful 22 month old daughter. From the beginning I just didn't feel well when I was pregnant with her. By about 25 weeks we knew something was up, but my blood pressure was still not that high and I didn't have protein. I had already begun swelling though. By about 30 weeks my blood pressure had risen and I was told to reduce activity. At 36 1/2 weeks PE had progressed to the point where labor was induced and my great big 7lb 3oz dd was born. I had a difficult vaginal delivery with 4 hours of pushing and of course the horrible mag sulphate. My blood pressure went right back to normal and I lost 100 lbs in one month, I even looked like myself again!

This time I seem to be doing better. It took me 7 months to become pregnant, maybe having a 22 month old had something to do with that! [:D] The Dr was ready to start talking about why I wasn't pregnant yet when I found out I was. My blood pressure went up somewhere around 15 weeks so my Dr started talking about chronic hypertension. It stayed in the high 130's/80's through the second trimester. Then in the third it actually went back down! This week it's sometimes reading higher again, but not as high as it was in the second trimester. I am now the most pregnant I have ever been! I don't have blood pressure in the scary ranges I did last time at all.

The main concern we have right now is that this baby is measuring very large. By ultra sound he was more than 7 1/2lbs at 35 weeks. He's on track to be over 10! My Doctor isn't comfortable with me delivering a huge baby vaginally. With as difficult of a time as I had with dd he's worried about injury to me and permanent nerve damage to the baby. Last week he said he'd like me to schedule a c-section. I'll find out tomorrow if it will be on December 29th like we discussed.

I'm so excited to be this far along. Although I feel like a huge blimp, it makes me happy that I have a huge healthy baby. I hope to post a second baby no PE story very soon.

I am new although I have been lurking for about a week now! I am 36, married and have two daughers 7yo & 2yo. I just found out I am pregnant with #3. It was not planned & I've been beating myself up about it. I'd planned to have an IUD inserted after delivery, but was so upset with my OB & out of it for several months, that I just never did it. So much for condoms! My first appointment is the 16th of this month and based on lmp I'm due 8/4/03. I'll be meeting with a High Risk OB and hope to find out info on how he thinks I will fair this time around.

With my second pregnancy I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes after failing the 3-hour glucose test and soon after started swelling on calves and feet. My OB poo-poo'd me everytime I mentioned how horibly swollen they were, saying it was just part of pregnancy. I know swelling technically isn't a symptom anymore, but it was an indicator, particulatly because I didn't have that severe edema with my first "normal" pregnancy. My bp was 120/80 until the 37th week when it went up, but I don't know to what. Parts of my chart (I've since requested my medical record)appear to be missing. I swore my weight had gone up about 10lbs in 2 weeks, but again, my last OB appointment doesn't appear to have my weight listed. A few days later while grocery shopping, I felt teriibly ill like I was going to vomit and faint, but it passed. Keep in mind that I assumed any unusually ill feelings I had were related to GD. I wasn't even thinking about PE because I "thought" my face and fingers weren't swollen. After looking at pictures I see that they were! The next week, I'd gone to to a peri for a regularly scheduled ultrasound related to the gestational diabetes. While there I was feeling kind of strange, so I asked a nurse to take my bp, it was 170/100. Now I've NEVER had high blood pressure my entire life - I don't even know why I thought to ask to have my pressure taken, but thank God I did. They told me to go to the hospital immediately. While there they monitored me to see if the bp had gone down, but it hadn't so they induced me. For those of you who've only been induced, you aren't aware of anything different, but for those who were fortunate to experience labor without induction, that *%$&! hurts!!!! I begged the nurses for an epidural, but my doctor had left the room, didn't say where she was going and didn't come back for over an hour or 2! So the window of time was gone & I had to do it without drugs. My daughter arrived healthy and weighed exactly 6 pounds. I was kind of shocked, because all of the doctors kept warning me that the baby may be large due to the diabetes. One day later my bp was 160/90, but my OB didn't prescribe medication to lower it. It stayed that way on day 2, still no meds. I also had abnormal liver & kidney tests. At midnight on day 3 I was woken up and whisked from my room and taken to the ICU and started on Mag Sulf., catheterized and did a 24 hour urine test (I think). I was hooked up to automatic bp cuff and could see my BP go up to 186/110. My legs were in these cuffs that massaged them to prevent blood clots. I asked dh to please not bring dd to visit me in that condition. I didn't want her to think that having a baby was so scary. I kept saying I was fine when the ICU doctors asked if I had abdominal pain. After 2 days I was sent back to a regular room. I started seeing spots. THen everything on my right started looking wavy. I also couldn't remember phone numbers I'd known for years. I didn't even know I had been in the ICU - I was wondering why the TV was free! I remember it was very noisy and I wished everyone would shut up. I couldn't remember little things that had happened days before. After 7 days I was released with still no meds and bp of 150/90.

Sorry this was so long, but I feel that my suffering could have been prevented. I didn't get to spend the postpartum time with my new baby, but instead had to go on endless doctor's appointments. I still have memory problems, and am kind of dyslexic and sometimes see words that aren't there. That never happened before, was always an excellent english student. The wavy vision didn't go away for 3 months. The BP eventually returned to 120/80. Now I'm pregnant again.....

My son was born in August 01 at 31 weeks. I had symptons ofPE from 28 weeks. Kit was delivered as he had stopped growing since 28 weeks and this showed on the scan. He was 2lbs 11oz. He spent 5 weeks in special care but is now a robust 2 year old with no problems.

I had a bad time convincing midwives and doctors that something was wrong but was eventually admited to hospital for monitoring when it all took off. Its made me somewhat paranoid this pregnancy but better safe than sorry Ive decied. This time around I saw a specialist early. Took baby aspirin and vit c and E. I stopped work at 25 weeks when my BP started to rise. Once I had stopped my BP came down to normal.

Im now 37+3 weeks with number 2. I can hardly believe it. I have a C section scheduled or 22nd december but could have it moved earlier if a space becomes free. Baby measred 7lb 1oz at last scan (36 weeks).

Its such a different prgnancy. Last time around I hardly knew I was pregnant and sailed through until I became dizzy at 28 weeks. I never really felt very ill but I had an enormous sense that something was wrong then. This time around I have had everything to contentd with but nothing which has turned out to be serious (yet). Nausea, tiredness, bloatedness, son had chicken pox, scan said potential chromosonal abnormality, fluctuating BPs although I could always bring them down with rest.

All the above seems resolved and now I am impatient for delivery date. I can hardly believe I am going to have a full sized baby who wont have to go to special care. I cant wait to try breast feeding . My first couldn't for three weeks and then wouldn't after that.

WOW! We sure have been through alot! Here we go, with my last pregnancy, my BP was up at first appt (7 weeks)and continued to be up. Some appts it was 150/100. No concern was ever shown. I swelled early, but all my Dr said was cut back on salt. So, at 25 weeks 2 days, I saw her. My BP was up, but apparently no protein - a little sugar in urine. So I went home. I woke up 12 hours later with excrutiating pain in my ribs. I finally decided it was that "gas" that every body had warned me about. I went and bought gas-x and took some tylenol. I felt a little better. That day we left for my parents for 2 weeks for Christmas. I did not feel well, but this was my first preg - what did I know? I had severe pitted edema and upper quadrant pain that i was manageing with tylenol. I survived the Holiday Hoopla! Even spent several hours on Alabama back roads - boy was I lucky to make it back to civilization! Anyway, wednesday, December 26, 2001, my mother went to work, my husband and father went hunting, and I laid on the couch. Around lunch time, my mother called and asked me what my BP was - 210/140. Uh Oh! I left 3 messages on the "emergency" line at my Dr.'s office - 3 hours away. Then my sister came and took me to the emergency room. Things were very bad - immenent kidney failure, liver out of whack and BP up to 270/190 - I don't know exactly how high it went, nobody would tell me. My mom showed up. As they took me to the elevator to go up to L&D, the nurse said, "so, you're from Pensacola? Looks like you'll be taking a baby home with you" It was so sureal. I was thinking "no, my baby is not ready to be born, but why I am going to have him now?" Total confusion. So, they gave me one steroid shot, but when they realized that the Mag Sulf wasn't going to do anything, they said you're having this baby. Now, my husband still had not arrived, the dr wouldn't let mom in the OR because I was "so sick". He later told us that Josh would have found me dead in the morning if I had not come to ER - yikes! So, Josh arrived just as they were about to cut me. They let him come in and not touch anything. I spent the next 36 hours in ICU on mag, just 1/2 cc away from dialysis. Finally, Friday morn they dc'd the mag and I could move again. I got to see Ian friday afternoon. That, of course is a whole nother story. let's just say that he is now a happy, healthy 2 year old. He spent 14 weeks in the NICU 3 hours away - came home on his due date.

So, we got preg first try this time & at 8 weeks, my activities were restricted and BP meds increased. I have been on meds since Ian's delivery. Here's to bed rest! good luck to all of you.